


family is everything

by Lire_Casander



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2020-02-27 05:38:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18732700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lire_Casander/pseuds/Lire_Casander
Summary: having somewhere to go is home. having someone to love is family. and having both is a blessing





	1. hopeful waiting

**Author's Note:**

> A series of ficlets about Max and Liz and the family they've got for themselves. Non-linear chronological order, as I'll be answering different prompts.
> 
> Tagging will increase as the series grow.
> 
> Beta'ed by wonderful [estel_willow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/estel_willow) without whom I would probably be much less coherent.
> 
> Feel free to drop a prompt for me about this particular serie or any other [over at tumblr](https://lire-casander.tumblr.com/ask)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _The clock glares at her at three in the morning when she cracks one eye open, hand instantly going to her belly_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [theballetslippertheblackhoodie](http://theballetslippertheblackhoodie.tumblr.com/), who asked for **Max/Liz + "Your child is using my bladder a pillow, Mama is not amused."**. Enjoy!

The clock glares at her at three in the morning when she cracks one eye open, hand instantly going to her belly. Its roundness never ceases to amaze her, but right now she is about to start kicking her feet under the sheets out of frustration. It isn’t the first time tonight that she’s been awaken by the awkward sensation of something pressing against her insides, making it almost impossible to have a nap without feeling as though a thousand pounds are resting on top of her bladder.

“What’s up?” Max mumbles sleepily, turning around to watch as she sits up and groans. “What’s up, Liz?” he asks again, more awaken, when she won’t reply.

“Your child is using my bladder as a pillow,” she complains, knowing that she’s being silly and petty about it as the words leave her mouth. “Mama is not amused,” she whispers down to her stomach.

Max laughs wholeheartedly and reaches out to place his bigger hand on top of hers over her belly. “Honey, you have to give mom a break,” he whispers as well, rubbing soothing circles over the fabric of her nightgown. “Just so we can have a full night’s sleep before you come home with us in a few months.”

Liz feels her chest swell at the thought of their little family expanding in just four more months – a cousin for Isobel’s baby on the way as well, a nephew for Alex who never thought he’d have the chance to be an uncle growing up, and she couldn’t wait to see Maria acting as a doting auntie – and she can’t help the smile making her face glow. “I can’t wait,” she says slowly. “I’m so excited about this.”

“Me too,” Max replies, hand stilling. “I never thought I’d have kids, you know. And now, this miracle.”

“Our miracle,” Liz states, hooking her pinky with Max’s. “I’ve already thought of a name if we’re having a boy.”

“Yeah?” Max smiles happily. “Something as fantastic as Ellie, I hope.”

She shakes her head in amusement. They’ve decided to choose names with a meaning, and Max has settled for Ellie, which is, in his words, _the shortened version of Elizabeth_. She secretly hopes they’ll have a girl after all.

“Nope,” she retaliates. “I’ve thought of Marco. I’m afraid it’s not as thoughtful as Ellie.”

“It’s perfect,” Max reassures her. “We’ll know tomorrow, if we’re lucky, and it’s going to be perfect.”

Next morning, they find out they don’t have to choose between two names.


	2. whatever youth we have left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Look at uncle Mickey! He looks like he hasn’t got a haircut in ages!”_
> 
> _“Have you seen uncle Alex? He wore a nose ring and an earring and eyeliner!”_
> 
> _“Impossible!”_
> 
> _“See, here, here!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [theballetslippertheblackhoodie](http://theballetslippertheblackhoodie.tumblr.com/), who asked for **Max/Liz + "The kids found our senior yearbook." "I'm going to die of embarrassment because of that damn book."**. Enjoy!

“Look at uncle Mickey! He looks like he hasn’t got a haircut in ages!”

“Have you seen uncle Alex? He wore a nose ring and an earring and eyeliner!”

“Impossible!”

“See, here, here!”

The squeals and the laughter catch Max’s attention and drawn him to the living room, where Ellie and Marco are too busy leafing through what looks like their yearbook. Liz is calmly folding the laundry by the other side of the room, as though it isn’t a big deal. 

“What’s going on here?” he asks cautiously, hoping they don’t get to the pages where his horrid hairstyle is on display.

“The kids found our senior yearbook,” Liz explains, like she’s talking to one of their eleven-year-old kids.

“I’m going to die of embarrassment because of that damn book,” he mutters.

“Wait until they get their hands on the prom album.”

“Is there a prom album?” Ellie asks, head up so quickly she must feel dizzy, Max is sure. “Where? Can we see it? Auntie Iz says she was the most elegant girl in the whole party!”

“Did you have to open that Pandora box?” Max grunts as he watches their children stand up, yearbook already forgotten – _thank deities_ – and begin perusing the shelves in their quest for an album whose existence he’s pretty sure Liz has made up.

“I think it’s stashed somewhere in the chests Dad has back in the garage,” Liz instructs, and the twins make a beeline for the back door to the garage before any of the adults can try to convince them otherwise. When they’re both out of sight – their banter carrying through the empty rooms – Liz smiles conspiratorially. “That’s going to keep them busy for at least a couple of hours.”

“Enough time to throw this away,” Max says as he picks the yearbook.

“Not to the dustbin, I hope,” Liz counteracts. “I’m pretty fond of that, you know. It holds the earliest memories I have of us all together, one way or another.”

Max looks over to see Liz standing against the dawning light of the sun, her silhouette dark, but he can make out her smirk – if only because he’s been subjected to it enough times these past years. “I’ll hide it in our closet, they won’t find it there anytime soon.”

“Good idea. And while you’re at it, could you take the seven copies of _Crime and Punishment_ with you?”

Max glares at her, but does as told, earning a flying kiss and a giggle from his wife.


	3. music for the soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Max leans against the wooden jamb, watching from a distance the scene unfolding before his eyes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [theballetslippertheblackhoodie](http://theballetslippertheblackhoodie.tumblr.com/), who asked for **Max/Liz + "Sing to the baby, she'll/he'll listen to the sound of your voice."**. Enjoy!

Max leans against the wooden jamb, watching from a distance the scene unfolding before his eyes. Liz, eight months along, lying on her back on the couch, head on Alex’s lap, and the former airman is threading his fingers through her long, black hair. They're talking softly, Max can't really make out what they're saying, but the word _father_ reached his ears clear as a spring stream running down the mountains. 

Wherever he looks, there's something that reminds him that he's going to be a father – the cradles in the guest room that will never again be for guests, a pile of stuffed animals Michael keeps bringing with him even though they now have more than enough to keep an army of babies entertained – and he knows he's slowly giving up his personal space for writing and turning the table beside the couch into a painting desk for their children when they grow up a bit and are able to sketch. 

He’s convinced at least one of them will inherit Rosa's creative streak. 

He moves from his spot on the doorway, where he's been spying on the figures sprawled on his couch, further away from the living room. Their voices carry through the silence, following him into the kitchen. 

"Alex," Liz’s speaking louder now, as though some sort of enchantment has been broken. "Sing to the babies, please. They'll listen to the sound of your voice."

She doesn’t have to plead much more; from the distance Max can hear some rustling of fabrics and then Alex’s voice humming lightly, words unspoken and lyrics unimportant. It reminds him of childhood and freedom and happiness, of all the things he wants for Ellie and Marco once they get to welcome the twins into their lives. As Alex keeps singing soft lullabies, Max finds himself swaying a bit on the kitchen tiles.

He marvels on the little perfect family he's managed to gather for himself – for his children. He doesn’t think there could be anything better than this waiting for him in any other galaxy.


	4. happiness is made of slow moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Liz enters the kids’ bedroom with the firm intention of checking on her husband, who was in charge of them tonight, only to stop dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anon, who asked for **I don’t want to stop the big fix action but if you’re taking requests I’d love an Echo with Liz and Max and his books. Brownies if he’s wearing a pair of nerdy reading glasses and just jeans cause I’m sick like that.  
> **  
>  Enjoy!

Liz enters the kids’ bedroom with the firm intention of checking on her husband, who was in charge of them tonight, only to stop dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her.

Max is lying on top of the sheets on Ellie’s bed, shirt off and reading glasses askew as he snores softly with their daughter draped all over his chest, Marco sound asleep tucked behind Max’s arm. There’s a forgotten book resting on his leg, as if he’s left it there for a second before falling asleep with their children on this stickly hot midsummer evening.

She has to bite back a giggle as she takes in the scene unfolding right here and now, Max’s chest heaving slightly and lifting Ellie’s head slowly in its motion. Liz is reminded of all the other times she’s had the privilege of watching Max sleep – the big cowboy always protecting her even in her sleep – and a feeling she can only describe as _love_ and _pride_ and _perfect_ bubbles up inside her.

He’s always falling asleep on his books, whether it is Tolstoi or his own writings that he’s recently been tweaking to try and see if he can get them published. She loves watching him doze away when he doesn’t realize he’s falling asleep, and she loves it even more when he starts awake, not yet fully alert, hair tousled and glasses dangling just from one ear. He’s never looked more attractive to her than in those moments.

But getting to watch him asleep with their twins on him, arms surrounding them as though they are the only protection they need, it makes her heart roar. Not for the first time she wishes she’d fit in the bed, big enough for one of the twins, cramped when the two of them shared it, definitely crowded with Max’s large frame among them. She fishes for her phone in the back pocket of her jeans, and snaps a picture before Max wakes up.

Later on, when the kids have grown up enough to attend college, she’ll reflect on these days and look at framed memories, where the twins are still toddlers and Max’s skin looks soft. She’ll learn to love the wrinkles and the bumps along the way, but she’ll always love the calm moments before every storm.


	5. nervous encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"What do you mean, they're ready?" Max asks stupidly into his phone. He’s blinking, heart beating faster than he thought possible. He feels he might be having a heart attack._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [terimaru](https://terimaru-blog.tumblr.com/), who asked for **I would love to see the Pod and Clubhouse Squad get Max through the birth of his babies. Pretty sure it might take them all.**
> 
> I hope you like it! Enjoy!

"What do you mean, they're ready?" Max asks stupidly into his phone. He’s blinking, heart beating faster than he thought possible. He feels he might be having a heart attack. 

"I mean you should be taking your ass down here instead of asking silly questions," Michael deadpans before hanging up on him. 

For a long second Max stares at his phone as if it's about to explode any moment. There's a hand on his shoulder, tightening a grip that ground him all of a sudden. "Evans," Sheriff Valenti says in a soft voice. "You should go to the hospital." 

"I'm on duty," he mutters half heartedly. 

"You’re dismissed, of course," she smiles sweetly. "Cameron," she calls over her shoulder. "Take him to the medical centre. From what I gathered from my son, Liz just got into labor." 

Max wants to ask when Valenti has called his mother, but his brain seems adrift inside his own skull. He can't think straight. 

"Let's go," Cam says, stepping into his vision field. "You have to breathe, Evans, or else instead of delivering your babies, Kyle will need to revive you. Don't freak out, you know how these things go." 

"Theoretically," he finally finds his voice. "But what if-what if Liz-" 

"Nothing’s going to go wrong," Cam assures him, helping him to stand up. "Now, let's get you into the car and head to the hospital, okay? You don't want to miss the birth of your twins." 

"Liz would kill me," he manages to croak out, earning himself a laugh from his partner.

"That's truest than you think," Cam jokes back. 

The trip to the hospital is a blur in his mind, he doesn’t realize they've arrived until Cam is dragging him out of the car and pushing him inside. "C'mon, Max, I have to go park the car. I'll be back with you in no time." 

He stumbles into the building, looking wildly around until he spots his sister and Noah standing by the entrance to the waiting room. "Max!" she cries out, rushing to him. "Kyle was looking for you. Michael said he got a hold on you.”

"How are you already here?" he begins to think that he's traveled to another dimension. 

"We were having lunch with Liz and Michael?" Isobel reminds him gently. "She started feeling uneasy, and then the babies began kicking like crazy and she knew right away that her water had broken.”

“Well, that was pretty obvious,” Michael quips from behind Isobel. “Took you long enough.”

“Where is she?”

“I’m sure Kyle’s getting her ready,” Alex states, walking in right behind Max. He sighs inwardly, content to not have been the last one to know about his babies about to be born. “I came as soon as I could. Any news?”

“Not yet,” and Max is beginning to hyperventilate because he doesn’t know where his wife is, how his babies are going to turn out to be, what he’s supposed to do. He’s so going to fail at this parenting thing. He’s going to show how much of a failure he actually is on a daily basis, only now he’s going to be responsible of two little beings. Two beings no one knows whether they’d be fully alien, fully human, _mestizos_. “What if the babies aren’t-you know- what if they-” He can’t find his words, and his heart threatens to punch its way out of his chest. If this is what a panic attack feels like, he’s about to collapse.

“Hey, easey there,” Alex places a hand on his forearm and squeezes gently. “You need to remain calm, okay? Just breathe with me,” he adds, guiding Max through a routine of breathing in and out, keeping the air he inhales through his nose inside and then exhaling it after five seconds.

His heart rate slows down a bit, and he can think clearly once again.

“You can do this,” Noah comforts him when he’s calm enough. “You’re going to be an amazing father, you’ll see.”

“And this way, we’ll know for sure what to expect,” Isobel jokes, earning herself a playful smack from Michael, who’s moved to Max’s right.

“Just go,” Michael says. “I can’t wait to meet those little monkeys.”

“Me either,” Max is still shivering, but he’s visibly less nervous. “It’s going to be a trip,” he adds.

“And what a trip!” Cam pipes in as she walks with her sunglasses in her hand. “Now go, or else Valenti’s going to lose his shit. Last I knew, Liz was calling out for you.”

“About damn time you made it!” Valenti calls for him from the ER swinging doors. “”C’mon, Evans, you’re about to become a father, man up and c’mere!”

Max follows him through the doors, feeling less nervous as he steps closer to meeting his babies and cuddling with his wife. Life is going to be magnificent from now on, and he can’t wait for this new chapter to begin.


	6. adulting life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“please, mom!” ellie looks up at her with her big brown eyes, but liz is standing her ground, completely serious as her daughter pleads once again. “i promise i’ll do my homework when i come back.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [terimaru](http://terimaru-blog.tumblr.com/), who asked for **It's been a while since we saw Max and Liz having their babies . I'd love to see them together with the twins doing anything - anywhere**. Enjoy!

“Please, Mom!” Ellie looks up at her with her big brown eyes, but Liz is standing her ground, completely serious as her daughter pleads once again. “I promise I’ll do my homework when I come back.”

“You know the rules, Ellie,” Liz says, hands on her hips. “First homework, and then you can go to the movies with your friends.”

“But Marco can go out with _his_ friends!” Ellie whines. “Papa!” she calls out for Max, who’s arrived from a full day chasing delinquents throughout Roswell. He’s sporting a tired look on his face, ready to shrug off his uniform and into his comfortable sweatpants and oversized t-shirt, but he lightens up when Ellie sprints towards him. He catches her mid air, allowing her to tackle him and feigning that she’s drawn him to the ground.

“Hello to you too, dear,” Max greets with a smile. He ruffles her ponytail, eliciting a complaint from his daughter. “What’s up?”

“Mom won’t allow me to go out with my friends,” Ellie says dramatically. Max can tell, from the way she’s swaying in place, that she thinks she’s got him wrapped around her pinkie. And usually she would, but Max has learned the hard way to get in Liz’s lane, so he just shrugs slightly.

“I’m sure Mom has her reasons,” he starts, glancing over at his wife, who’s back to her paper reading. “Have you done all your homework?”

Max knows he’s hit a sore spot when Ellie frowns. “I can do it when I come back.” She stares at him longingly, like someone who knows Max would do anything for her, but this time he needs to back Liz up, because they’re a team when it comes to the upbringing of their kids – and their grades slipping below the minimum acceptable to pass isn’t something Max wants to fight Liz over. They had a big fight last semester when Ellie came home with three red marks; Max had tried to play it down for a while, reminding Liz that everyone’s entitled to having a bad time at school, but Liz had taken it out on him, and Max had discovered some secrets his daughter hadn’t been telling him. It had hurt him to find out that Ellie had been sneaking out of the house to meet with her friends when she was supposed to be studying with Marco.

The argument that had ensued had even topped the one Max’s mother had had with Isobel when they were both teenagers and his twin sister had wanted to attend a pageant two states over on the midterms week at their sophomore year. Max had vowed not to cross Liz ever again about their children; even Marco had received part of Liz’s wrath, because she blamed him for not having noticed – and told them – that Ellie had been slipping in her studies.

Max has learned his lesson, and now he won’t take a step sideways without sharing a quick glance with his wife – a glance that tells him now that Liz is fuming but also conflicted because neither of them was born to be authoritative with their children, and yet someone has to be the voice of reason with their fourteen-year-old daughter.

“You said the very same last semester, and you failed Algebra, Literature and English,” Liz recalls loudly, pencil twirling in her right hand as she leafs through the paper she’s currently grading. “I remember distinctly grounding you for the rest of the school year, Ellie.”

Max has to hide a snort at Ellie’s pained face. “But it’s Jessica’s birthday party! She’s inviting everyone to the movies, and they’re going to watch this super cool new-”

“I said no,” Liz cuts her, still not lifting her gaze from her paper.

“But Marco-”

“Marco didn’t fail his classes,” Liz interrupts her again, and this time she looks up at their daughter. Max is caught in her intense gaze, black and focused – he gets reminded of their early days, when she would achieve anything just by sheer determination. She hasn’t changed with the years, but she’s got wiser, and Max falls deeper for her with every day that passes. “Don’t pout at me, Ellie. You knew I wouldn’t allow it.”

“But Papa-”

“Ellie, if Mom said you can’t go, you know there’s nothing I can do,” Max says, lifting both his hands in the air. “You have to study for your exams. After you pass them maybe we can talk about some exceptions.” He looks briefly at Liz, who’s staring back at him with what seems an indecipherable look in her eyes – but he knows her enough to read between the lines in her creased forehead. He’s sure Liz will let Ellie a bit more loose if she passes at least Algebra. 

That doesn’t appease Ellie, who turns her back on them and leaves the living room in a huff of teenage fury, slamming the door to her bedroom shut forcefully, screaming “I hate you!” 

Max and Liz flinch visibly. “She’ll come around,” he says softly, walking to the couch and placing a hand on Liz’s shoulder. “It’s the right thing to do. She’ll understand, in time.”

“I just thought it’d get easier,” Liz sighs. “I hate being the bad cop here, but you’re too soft with them.”

“Someone has to be!” Max defends himself playfully. They smile at each other for a moment before the silence in Ellie’s wake is broken by a soft knock on her door that can be heard from the living room.

“Ellie,” Marco says. Max knows he’s been studying in his room, midterms quickly approaching, and Marco’s set on getting into Denver just like his mom, so he needs a high GPA. Both adults peek around the way to the hall where all the bedrooms rest aligned. Marco’s outside Ellie’s room, a textbook in his hands, and he’s shuffling nervously.

“Leave me alone!”

“I’m sorry you can’t go to Jessica’s party,” he continues. “I’m not going either.”

“You aren’t?” she asks, opening the door. Her face is blotchy from crying, but she’s staring at her twin, bewildered. “Why?”

“You can’t go,” he says simply, shrugging. “But if you pass Algebra, maybe we can convince Mom?”

“I just can’t!” she whines, still half covered by the shadows cast by the door. “I don’t understand anything! I’m not clever as you are!”

“I can help you,” he offers. “Please. I’m sorry I didn’t last semester, but I want to help you. Please?”

There’s a staring match between them, reminding Max of the silent conversations he usually has with Isobel, before Ellie opens the door widely and motions for Marco to enter. “Do you know trigo?”

Marco nods enthusiastically as he steps into Ellie’s room. The door closes at his back. Max takes Liz’s hand in his and walks her back to the couch, both of them hoping Marco can help Ellie before it’s too late and she misses her chance at having the bright future she wants for herself.

A week later, Ellie passes Algebra with flying colors.


	7. all in this together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _max is reading_ crime and punishment _for the second time this year when he feels it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For emilaysjonas, who asked for a ficlet about the twins discovering their powers a long while ago. I am sorry this has taken so long to write and post, and I hope you like it!
> 
> Unbeta’ed. All I own is my mistakes.

Max is reading _Crime and Punishment_ for the second time this year when he feels it. He doesn’t get to actually _see_ it, because he has his back turned to the door where he can sense Marco leaning into the wooden surface, chubby hands grasping the jambs as he helps himself up to start walking. The twins have begun taking some unsure steps and now they are two little terrors that make Liz become crazy and exhaust their Aunt Isobel and their Uncles Michael and Alex whenever they babysit them.

The lights flicker slightly. Max blinks, and it seems the power is back in normal functioning, so he resumes his reading.

The bulb at his right – the one he uses as reading lamp because it has the exact brightness he needs – goes cold and flickers out. Max straightens up in his reading armchair, head turning around wildly as he checks himself. The last time he lost control of his own powers he had been back from the dead for twenty minutes, and was still adjusting to a reality where he was breathing instead of in stasis.

“Marco,” he calls his son. The baby stops his playing with the wooden door and giggles at him, making grabby hands so Max understands Marco wants to be lifted. That, he can do. “Okay, buddy, here we go!” Max cuddles him up after reaching his baby in two long strides, and blows a raspberry on his stomach. Marco laughs delighted, and Max repeats his motions.

The lamp overhead explodes, bathing them with shreds of crystal and porcelain. Max hardly has time to cover Marco’s face with his own hands, exposing his back to the explosion as he frowns. “Marco?” he says, question evident in his voice even though he’s aware that the baby isn’t going to answer him.

He places the baby on the floor just outside the room, away from the broken glass, and ushers Marco to toddle around towards the nursery. Once he can see the baby away from the disaster, Max turns around and frowns at the scattered pieces of lamp throughout the whole living room. He rubs a hand over his face, and sighs. Not for the first time, he wonders how on Earth their parents didn’t realize something was off with Isobel and him when they were kids, although objectively he realizes that both his twin sister and himself were six years older than Marco and Ellie when they were adopted.

“Woah, what happened here?” comes Liz’s voice from the other entrance to the living room, coat still on and frown in place. “Have you lost control of your powers, Max?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “I think it’s been Marco, but I can’t be sure.”

Liz mirrors his worried expression – they both know what having two babies with extraterrestrial powers could mean. They have been used to hide the Pod Squad’s powers, but they are adults. Marco and Ellie are just babies, their first birthday isn’t up yet for still another couple of months. Even though they have a support system their father, their aunt and their uncle didn’t have, it still worries Max and Liz.

“Let’s see if there’s another incident,” Liz suggests. “Keep an eye out for that, and we’ll check on Ellie as well.”

**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**

They live in peace for another three days, until it all goes to alien hell on a Wednesday. Max is on duty call that afternoon, so when Liz dials him up while he’s driving the cruiser with Cam riding shotgun, he immediately senses that something is terribly wrong.

“It’s Liz,” Cam states simply when she hands him his own cell phone, which has been tucked away in the glove box for the most part of their shift. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay, Cam,” Max smiles softly. “I should take this, do you mind driving?”

Cam beams at him as he pulls out of the road and gets out of the car without killing the engine. The phone keeps blaring, and Max picks up the call with a worried frown as they switch places and Cam hits the gas. “Liz? What’s up, honey?”

“Max,” and the way she calls his name always leaves him breathless, even when she’s sounding crazed and stressed out. “Can you come home? And pick Michael up form wherever he is?”

“What’s wrong?” he asks immediately; his voice alerts Cam who gazes at him as he looks back at her with wide eyes. “Has something happened to the twins?”

“Not _to_ them,” Liz whispers. “But-can you please come home? I need you.”

“And Michael,” Max repeats slowly. Cam nods curtly, navigating through Roswell to get out by the entrance of Sanders’ Auto. Max has long hung up on Liz and he’s anxiously looking out of the window and fidgeting in his seat when Cam stops the car in front of Michael’s Airstream. “Michael!” Max calls out, stumbling outside the cruiser before closing the door with much more force than necessary. “Michael!”

“Hey, Max, Cam,” Michael greets him as he walks their way from behind the trailer. He’s wiping his hands on a filthy cloth and his shirt seems nowhere to be found. “What’s up? I haven’t been misbehaving lately,” he jokes before he gets a glimpse of Max’s face – anguish and fear creeping up and marring his features. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Max grits out, motioning for him to move. “Liz called, something’s off with the twins, and she’s asked specifically for you.”

“Lemme throw on a shirt,” Michael says, lifting a finger in front of his face. The Airstream’s door sways open and a blue plaid shirt flies its way to him. He grabs it with ease and puts it on, all the while walking towards the cruiser. “I think it’s going to be the first time I ride in this without being actually cuffed.” The joke elicits a small huff from Max as he swaps places with Cam once again and he drives back through town and onto his house, on the outskirts of Roswell and diametrically opposite to Sanders’ Auto.

Max almost forgets to set the handbrake when the car comes to a stop in front of his condo. Liz is outside, Ellie in her arms and Marco hugging her leg; the three of them are still wearing their pajamas, and Liz has a weird look in her eyes. “Babe,” Max approaches them as slowly as he can, given that he’s sensing Liz’s distress and he doesn’t want to add to it. His steps come to a halt abruptly a few feet shy from his family when he lays eyes on the building. 

All the glasses from the windows are busted, shreds scattered on the floor outside the house, as though they have been broken from the inside. 

"Oh my god, Liz," Cam mutters as she takes in the sight in front of them. 

“I’m not even sure who’s broken them,” Liz says as Max moves to embrace her small frame. “One second they were playing and the next everything exploded.”

Max nods. “You’ve scared Mom, you know,” he tells Ellie, who’s hiding her face in Liz’s t-shirt. “But we’ll find a solution for this,” he promises Marco as the little boy looks up at him and makes grabby hands at him once again. He lifts his son from the ground and turns to watch as Michael stretches his hands out and begins to undo the damage, bringing the windows back together by the sheer force of his mind.

**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**

Liz creates genetically coded wristbands for the twins, with a small amount of pollen trapped in amber crystals, enough to keep the powers at bay without physically hurting the babies. They can’t risk the twins showing more powers, not when they can’t be sure whether Ellie and Marco have only one power each or, as Michael suspected, they could hold all the secrets of their alien universe.

Max agrees with him for once, and Liz seems both excited at the prospect of her children being able to do amazing things with their mind and worried about how it might affect their lives growing up in Roswell of all places.

They argue about moving out for weeks on end – Max isn’t so keen on finding a place in the middle of nowhere, and when Alex offers the cabin both Liz and Max ponder the idea for a whole nanosecond before declining it. “We belong in Roswell,” Max finally admits. There’s no way he could take his kids away from their family – from Arturo and Ann and Phil who, even unaware of the nature of the twins, know that they are special.

Isobel comes up with an idea after sulking in her house for days on end because she thought the twins wouldn’t develop her power. “It’s just not fair,” she’d said, Noah’s hand on her back comforting her. “Mine is the coolest power ever!” Noah had agreed with her, even if in the beginning he hadn’t taken well having been married to an alien who could mindwarp him if needed.

“I have an idea,” Isobel says, entering the house in the outskirts of Roswell one sunny Sunday morning, Noah hot on her tail, several weeks after the disaster. There has been talk about how to handle the powers as the twins grow up and have to socialize more – when they go to school and make friends and stay overnight with someone who doesn’t know they are different. Liz and Max doesn’t want to isolate their children the way Max, Isobel and Michael grew up on their own, alone and feeling like they couldn’t trust anyone. They want a normal childhood, a normal _life_ , for them.

“If it involves taking Ellie on a shopping spree for Prada Kids, I swear, Iz,” Max jokes, handing the coffee pot to his sister as she sits down on a chair at the kitchen isle.

“I can teach them to use their powers,” she sticks her tongue out at him. She pours a generous amount of black in her mug and sips from it, moaning when the heat hit her throat. “This is delicious. Noah, we have to but this brand.”

“Whatever you like, honey,” Noah agrees while grabbing a bagel. Liz enters the kitchen with the twins in tow, toddling around wide awake. 

“Noah, Isobel,” Liz greets them. She sits down besides her sister-in-law, sighing. “It’s been a rough night. Rosa isn’t having a great time in Paris.”

“How’s that?”

“She misses everyone,” Max explains, shrugging. “She will come around, but being away from her family after having found them again has to be tough.” Max shakes his head. He knows it was for the best, when they all agreed that Rosa should travel to find herself after having been resurrected, but Paris was a whole ocean away and whenever she calls she complains about missing the twins growing up. “What were you saying, Isobel?” he changes subjects again, focusing on his sister’s words from before. “You want to teach the kids to use their powers?”

“Yup,” she nods. “I can create a safe space where they can learn to control their powers, and maybe even discover whether they have more abilities. You know, use this power of mine to help them.”

“Would you do that for them?” Liz pipes in, blinking back tears. Max knows she has been worried sick about their babies for nights on end, and that the bags under her eyes aren’t due to sleepless nights taking care of Ellie’s antics. They both have been running on little sleep ever since finding out the twins were more alien than anyone had thought.

“Maybe you could create that space so we all could be there to help them learn,” Michael’s voice rings through the air as he enters the house, Alex and Maria following him. Kyle and Cam walk in shortly after, and their little family reunion for a Sunday breakfast is complete. “We could teach them together.”

“Give them what we didn’t have,” Max adds. Liz brushes her fingers over the sensitive skin of his left arm, sending chills up his spine. “Help them learn.”

“And learn ourselves,” Isobel agrees.

“Let’s do it,” the three adult aliens say at once, eliciting a bursting of laughter from the rest of the humans, as the twins look up at them, thumbs in their mouths, as though the adults in the room have just gone crazy.


	8. unreasonable cravings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _max is running late to work for the third day in a row. his alarm didn’t work, the water heater broke when he was about to wash his hair, and the coffee machine exploded when he tried to plug it. he’s about ready to give up and call in sick, when he hears his name coming from the bedroom._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for an anon prompt over at tumblr from a list of prompts: **47\. Crave**.
> 
> It's really short, but I like the way it turned out.

Max is running late to work for the third day in a row. His alarm didn’t work, the water heater broke when he was about to wash his hair, and the coffee machine exploded when he tried to plug it. He’s about ready to give up and call in sick, when he hears his name coming from the bedroom.

Wearily, he steps to the door and peeks his head inside. “Good morning, honey,” he greets Liz, who’s still lying in bed, covered by the duvet and yawning. “Go back to sleep, it’s way too early.”

“But I don’t want to,” she pouts, stretching, although her voice betrays her – she’s still half asleep. “I don’t want you to go without kissing me goodbye.”

“I wouldn’t!” Max protests, sauntering over the bed and leaning in to drop a kiss to her forehead. She reaches out and grabs his arm, tugging him in until he almost collapses over her. “I’m running late, though, Liz. What about I pick you up for lunch?” he offers, trying to disentangle himself from Liz’s embrace that’s keeping him in place. “Liz,” he whines.

“You’re already late,” she reasons, hugging him tighter. “And I am in deer need of some cheese and pickles,” she continues. Max groans.

Her cravings have become almost unbearable as her pregnancy carries on. First it was strawberry jam when the only one left at the store was orange jam. Then it was grilled cheese sandwiches at three in the morning when Max had to wake up at five to get to his early shift. He was late two days ago because she’d craved a brand of chocolate bars that was only sold at some store four towns over, and then yesterday as well because she needed him to make churro pancakes.

He loves her, but if she doesn’t relent he’s going to fall asleep on the clock, and that’s only going to make Sheriff Valenti mad enough to fire him.

“Liz,” he tries to reason. “Can’t it wait? I really need to go to the precinct, you know, to  _work_.”

She lets go of him with another pout. “You don’t love me anymore,” she says, lowering her gaze to her hands. “I’m gross and fat and you  _don’t_  love me  _anymore_.”

“That’s not true,” Max assures her, leaning in and kissing her forehead again. When she turns her face, he sighs. “C’mon, Liz, you’re just being unreasonable. I  _have_ to go.”

“Then by all means go, go work with Cam and forget about old, boring, gross me.”

“You’re not gross, you’re *pregnant,” he corrects her, sitting on the bed and reaching out to pull her close to his chest. “And you couldn’t be more beautiful if you tried. I  _love_ you, Liz. That doesn’t mean I can lose my job because I’m late for the third time this week. I promise I will make it up to you.”

She sags against him, sighing shakily. “You promise?”

“I promise,” he smiles into her hair, ruffling it as he stands up. “Will pick you up for lunch, and you’ get to decide where we’re going. I may even talk Sheriff Valenti into giving me the rest of the day off if I manage to get in in time this morning.”

She beams at him before closing her eyes and dozing off again, and Max can’t help grinning. He doesn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day, even if he  _does_ get in late and he has to beg Sheriff Valenti for some time off in order not to get a divorce because his wife thinks she’s gross.


End file.
